People For the American Way

A new poll from the Center for American Progress highlights the groundswell of support this election for serious money in politics reform.

Given the extreme divisiveness of this election, the results of the poll may come as a surprise to some since they suggest remarkable alignment between Trump and Clinton voters on issues including money in politics, equal pay, gun violence, and criminal justice reform. For example, 69 percent of Trump voters and 67 percent of Clinton voters view “getting special interest money out of politics” as a high priority. Moreover, 84 percent of Trump supporters and 91 percent of Clinton supports would like to see an executive order requiring government contractors to disclose their political spending. Additionally, 86 percent of Trump voters and 89 percent of Clinton supporters said they believe Congress should pass legislation to prohibit congressional committee members from raising money from corporations or special interests that fall under the jurisdiction of their committee.

These findings reinforce previous studies that have shown that people across the political spectrum support reforms to curtail the influence of money in politics. During the campaign Donald Trump promised to “drain the swamp,” but the direction his transition team has taken thus far seems to suggest that in fact he plans to do the opposite. How Trump supporters react in the coming months as it becomes increasingly clear that the Republican-led government plans to roll back current campaign finance regulations—in effect increasing the amount of special interest money in politics— remains to be seen.